71 percent of tweets sent in the first hour of the announcement negatively reacted to the casting news, according to an analysis.

Ben Affleck may be the next Batman, but there appears to be a decent sized portion of the internet that wasn't initially enthused about the news.

In the over 96,000 tweets sent in the first hour after the casting announcement was made, 71 percent of that talk was negative, according to social media analytics firm Fizziology. Only 15 percent of the quick takes were positive and 14 percent were deemed to be of mixed sentiment.

And, as many on Twitter have noticed, there were plenty of jokes about Affleck's co-star in Good Will Hunting being cast as Robin. "19 percent of the mixed chatter came from audiences making jokes about Matt Damon also being cast in the film," the analytics firm found.

Batman fans who were taken aback by the decision have also, inevitably, launched a curt Change.org petition that urges Warner Bros. to "Remove Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the Superman/Batman movie." That petition has gathered more than 7,000 signatures since it was started.

Zack Snyder, director of Man of Steel and the forthcoming Batman feature, had praised Affleck in a statement announcing the news: "He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne."